Akshay flies to Malaysia for a drink

Last Friday, Akshay Kumar left for Malaysia. "I'm shooting an ad for cola in Malaysia. It's very different from all the ads that I've done so far. No action this time. It's a nice soft and gentle ad. I hope my critics will like me at least in this ad," chuckled Akshay wryly before taking off for Malaysia.

After a two day shoot in Malaysia, he flies straight to London and will be back only in September. Ideally Akshay would've returned home after shooting the ad in Malaysia and proceeded to London later.

But the critical response to his new film has been a complete downer. "The same aggressive tu tu main main in Hangover got 4 and 5 star rating while my film was treated so shabbily," Akshay observed unhappily.

Disgusted, appalled and disillusioned by what he sees as a clear case of jealous rivals trying to rain down on his parade, Akshay Kumar has left the country ahead of schedule.

Akshay was supposed to leave for London later during the month for a long schedule of Sajid Khan's Housefull. But he decided to pre-pone his trip, offering the excuse that he liked to arrive at a location ahead of a schedule to get comfortable. "If I've the time I like to arrive early and check out the ambience, make things comfortable for myself and the unit before they arrive."

But those close to Akshay pooh-pooh this line of thought. According to a source very close to Akshay, "He couldn't bear the savage criticism of Kambakkht Ishq. Even when the film was declared a hit, the barrage of criticism continued. Akshay needed to get away from the backlash."